School students from Cornwall and Belfast have beaten 200 other teams from across the UK to take home the national prize for their innovative proposals for a new local sports stadium.
Create Sport, a national competition run by the Institution of Civil Engineers, Arup and the Engineering Development Trust (EDT), challenged 12 to 13 year olds across the country to plan, design and construct a model for a new sports venue in their region. Proposals had to take into account all the engineering considerations of a real life project, such as environmental and community impact and planning and safety requirements, in an attempt to better equip school age students with an understanding of the profession.
Eleven regional finalists came to ICE’s London headquarters yesterday to compete for two national prizes of £1000 cash for their school, with runner ups winning either an exclusive visit to one of the most exciting civil engineering projects of our time, the Olympic Velodrome, daytrips to BRE educational centre or a school visit by a top athlete.
The teams from Penair School in Truro and Grosvenor Grammar School in Belfast, triumphed in the final mock public inquiry where they were required to defend their project to the ‘community’, in this case the judges, a high profile group of athletes and engineers including Ben Hunt-David, Olympic gold medallist, Shaun McKeown, Team GB Olympic Cyclist, and representatives from the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), Alison Nimmo and Simon Wright.
The Penair School’s project, a design and model for a Cornwall National Fencing Centre, featured a flexible gridshell roof and factored in plans to use rainwater for their stadium’s facilities, including showers and flushing toilets, as well as solar energy to power the venue. The team sought advice from James Honeybone, a professional Great Britain fencer who trains in the area.
Judge Alison Nimmo, Director of Design and Regeneration at the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), said: “The students from Penair School had built an impressive team dynamic and enthusiasm which came through in their inspirational design and ideas for delivery. The team had worked incredibly hard on all the detailed issues and in particular the needs of the different user groups and maximising the sustainability of the project. The judges were really impressed at the team’s confident presentation and maturity in handling numerous difficult issues and questions. The students had clearly enjoyed the challenge and showed some great potential for a future in the profession.”
Grosvenor Grammar School’s project Sus-tadium was a modular construction featuring Energy Piezo-electrical devices and turbine power generation through a system of water pods. The proposal also included an innovative ticketing scheme for the sports stadium where recipients are posted grass seeds to grow, aiming to offset the carbon impact of each event held.
Judge, Simon Wright, Director of Infrastructure and Utilities at the ODA said: "The standard set by each team was exceptional and it was extremely difficult to pick one winner but the team from Grosvenor Grammar School, Northern Ireland with their Sus-Stadium showed a maturity of thinking beyond their years. The judges particularly liked the appropriate city centre location and the flexible approach to the development phasing. Their innovation on inclusivity measures such as the braille handrail and amazing technology device SID coupled with some really original sustainability ideas was further evidence of their sophisticated approach."
ICE president Peter Hansford said nearly 1000 students had been involved in the inaugural competition: “It is crucial that we engage young people early enough to make informed curriculum, and ultimately career choices. Create Sport has highlighted the wealth of talent in our young people today, and I hope it has given a new generation of potential engineers the inspiration to take it beyond this competition and into real life. Congratulations to all the contestants.“ Master of ceremonies, Kate Bellingham, former BBC Tomorrow’s World presenter and engineer said: “The teams were truly enterprising – they were not only knowledgeable and passionate but they were able to communicate this effectively to a large audience. It made me proud to be an engineer.“
For further information, please see www.ice.org.uk/createsport.
Winning teams
Penair School, Truro
- George Sowerby (Y8)
- Tim Powell (Y8)
- Daniel Kerrison Stock (Y8)
- Tobias Sydenham (Y8)
- Dan Johnson (Y7)
- AJ Leverton (Y7
Grosvenor Grammar School, Belfast
- Eve McLelland, Y8
- Alex Cullen, Y8
- Sam Long, Y8
- Ross Coey, Y8
- Jason Crozier, Y8
Judges included:
- Ben Hunt-Davis, Olympic Rowing Gold Medallist
- Shaun McKeown, Team GB Olympic Cyclist
- Alison Nimmo, Director of Design and Regeneration, Olympic Development Authority (ODA)
- Professor Chris Wise, Founder of Expedition Engineering
- Peter Bonfield, Chief Executive, BRE
- Sacha Grodzinski, Chairman of Engineers Without Borders (EWB)
- Allan Gordon, Commercial Director, Warings Contractors Ltd
- Christine Townley, Director, Construction Youth Trust
- Kate Hall, Associate Director, Arup UKMEA
- Simon Wright, Director of Infrastructure, Olympic Development Authority (ODA)
Finalists
- The Romsey School, Romsey, Hants
- St Martin’s School, Solihul, Midlands
- Grosvenor Grammar School, Belfast
- Notre Dame, Glasgow
- Warblington School, Havant
- Fairfield High School, Bristol
- The Duston School, Northampton
- Fortismere School, Muswell Hill, London
- Gosforth Central Middle School, Newcastle upon Tyne
- Lumen Christi College, Londonderry
- Charters Sports College, Sunningdale, Ascot
- Penair School, Truro